Since 2003, Iraq has rarely left the headlines, but little is mentioned of the fact that Iraq as we know it was created by the British, in one of the most dramatic interventions in recent history. A cautious strategic invasion of Mesopotamia by British forces in World War I led to imperial expansion on a dizzying scale, with fateful consequences for the Middle East and the world. The editor of the Oxford History of Modern War and author of Easter 1916: the Irish Rebellion, Charles Townshend here charts Britain's path from one of its worst military disasters to extraordinary success with largely unintended consequences, through overconfidence, incompetence, and dangerously vague policy.